This invention relates generally to the securing or locking of hook-shaped mounting tabs into a slotted standard and more particularly to accomplishing that function in connection with a cabinet or other accessory to be mounted on a wall panel or partition.
In recent years there has been an increasing popularity for the concept of open office planning which utilizes free standing partition systems for defining various office and work station areas. Almost all of the manufacturers of these type systems provide for the direct mounting of office accessories such as cabinets, shelves, work surfaces and the like directly to the free standing partition or wall. Many of these systems employ what is known in the trade as a slotted standard as a part of the wall panel or partition to serve as a mounting vehicle on that wall panel or partition. The slotted standard is generally a vertical steel chanel which extends over the entire vertical dimension of the panel and has therein a plurality of equidistantly spaced, vertically aligned slots which are adapted to receive a plurality of hook-shaped or T-shaped connector elements which extend from the back surface of the accessory to be mounted to the wall panel. Illustrations of the hook-type connector may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,191 for Connector Assembly and Support Post, issued to Robert J. Munsey and the T-shaped connector is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,847 for Over the Cabinet Door Assembly, issued to Milo Aylworth.
It will be readily apparent that heavy accessories such as cabinets, sometimes loaded with heavy materials such as books, or work surfaces and book shelves are retained in their mounted position only by virtue of the vertical load provided by the accessory itself. It should be equally apparent that an inadvertent jarring or accidental removal of the hook-shaped or T-shaped connectors from the slotted standard could result in a serious accident.
Another problem with this type mounting system can be illustrated with reference to the above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,847, which discloses a backless wall mounted cabinet, which could obviously incorporate a provision for locking the cabinet door. The security of such a locked cabinet is clearly fictitious in that the cabinet can be readily removed from the wall and entered from the rear regardless of the locked door. Providing a locking mechanism in connection with the hook-shaped or T-shaped connector elements in order that any wall mounted accessory can have its mounting hooks locked into the slotted standard and which locking mechanism can only be released through positive action as opposed to inadvertent actuation can eliminate the hazard of such wall mounted accessories accidently falling from the wall. Additionally, providing the deactivating element of the locking mechanism on an internal surface of a wall mounted cabinet precludes the removal of the cabinet from the wall when the cabinet door is in a locked configuration.
Several mechanisms have been disclosed for locking hook-shaped connectors into slotted standards, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,432 to Fenwick discloses a swingable latch-type member for this purpose, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,281 to Munsey discloses a flip-type latch member for a similar purpose. Additionally, Application Ser. No. 548,128, filed Feb. 7, 1975, by Bruce K. Boundy for a cantilever lock now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,158 and owned by the assignee of this invention, discloses a similar type latching mechanism for locking cantilevered work surface supports which operate on a similar principle but lacks the positive locking means of this invention.